Sunday night, the Arizona Diamondbacks were standing in Bank One Ballpark celebrating their World Series Game 2 win and thinking these were the most intense emotions they could possibly be feeling. By yesterday afternoon, they were standing at Ground Zero of the World Trade Center disaster realizing just how wrong they had been.

They saw the devastation up close yesterday, standing atop a fire station nearby and speaking with police, firemen and rescue workers on the scene. Most said they felt anger at the perpetrators. Others felt pity for the victims and gratitude toward the workers. But all were moved even more than they expected.

“[I felt] anger, that these people did this for no reason. But those bastards won’t keep us down,” said Mark Grace, who watched the second plane crash on TV, as did most across the country. “I said ‘somebody just started a war on us.’ And I pity the fool who starts a war on us.

“I’m 37 years old, and I’ve never seen anything like that. God forbid we ever see anything like that again. I tell you what, New York should give itself a big round of applause the way they’ve come through and handled this. I don’t think there’s another city in the world that could’ve handled it better.”

Grace, outfielder Luis Gonzalez and Curt Schilling, came up with the idea to visit Ground Zero the day after Arizona won the NLCS. The Diamondbacks signed hardhats, police caps, everything the workers could muster. They went to the Command and Control Center on-site and the one in One Police Plaza, and Schilling gave a brief speech that elicited a standing ovation. But the Diamondbacks say they’re the ones that were moved.